


Progress

by Velace



Series: Random Moments [1]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-20
Updated: 2014-11-20
Packaged: 2018-02-26 08:57:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2645951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Velace/pseuds/Velace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Teaching Emma Swan can be a trying process, fortunately Regina learns from her previous mistakes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Progress

**Author's Note:**

> I had a harddrive scare this morning and... I have a lot of drabbles written that I've never shared, so I'm just going to throw together another series and... not lose them when Windows Registry decides to go and corrupt itself again :)

Emma throws up her hands in defeat and drops to the ground. Regina winces at the impact the sudden drop must have had on her backside but recovers enough to glare at her, the disapproval in her gaze obvious to even the most oblivious spectator.

"Why must you always behave like a child?" she questions the woman, marching across the lawn as though the frustration in her stride is going to intimidate the stubborn blonde into getting back on her feet. "You ask for my help and then give up because you haven't mastered it after your first attempt, what is wrong with you?"

Tired emerald eyes stare up at her, by now used to the crisp snap of her tone and almost, _almost_ immune to it. Regina can see that it still hits its mark, still stokes the fire in those veins but the exhaustion she can see easily overrides Emma's need to rise to a challenge and she sighs. She softens, _weakens_ her mind sneers, disgusted that she would surrender the fight after such a simple, pathetic look.

But she has changed, adapted to a new life of friends, family and love, so much love, and the reminder of such causes a chuckle to bubble up from her throat and spill unthinkingly from her lips. Emma blinks, a faint hint of delighted surprise passing over her expression that weakens Regina even more.

There's another sigh, resigned as she willingly kneels before the blonde and reaches out a hand, fingers dancing over a damp forehead and tucking a stray curl behind an ear. "I'm sorry," she murmurs, almost too quiet to be audible but Emma hears and offers her a weak, forgiving smile.

Sometimes Regina forgets. She forgets that she is no longer that cruel tormentor from the past, that she is nothing like her mother or Rumplestiltskin and has no desire to be like either of them. Sometimes she pushes people far beyond their limits, not because she expects too much from them but because she sees the potential and it angers her to think it's being wasted on someone who doesn't even want it.

Emma doesn't like her magic, doesn't trust it, doesn't want it and thinks she would be better off without it and Regina _understands_ that but she also knows what Emma wants will never be a reality because without her magic, Emma would no longer exist and that just isn't something Regina is willing to give up.

It's selfish, she knows but it's also perfectly reasonable. Emma doesn't want her magic, but she certainly doesn't want to die and that's what would happen. Regina knows that, Emma knows that and it's why they are here now—to help her learn to control it, to accept it and _live_ with it so that Regina won't regress, won't become the Evil Queen for losing yet someone else she loves.

Emma, Snow, Henry—they all insist she's different, that she would never fall so far again but it's a lie, a lie she lets them believe because fighting about it is a waste of time and she has better things to do. She hated that it had taken Emma almost dying before she accepted the fact she needed help, but it was one step closer to a guarantee the Evil Queen would remain where she is; in the dark recess of her mind, watching and waiting.

Smiling, she leans forward and presses a kiss to Emma's lips. There's no response beyond a slight twitch that speaks to just how tired Emma truly is, and it cements the lesson's end in Regina's mind as she stands and tugs the blonde to her feet.

"You need some rest," she confirms what she knows Emma is well and truly aware of already.

It isn't for Emma, but for the small voice in her mind urging her to push and push until Emma snaps. She won't do that to her and the voice knows it, but it takes more than a quiet berating of herself to silence it and this, she had learned the hard way.

Emma requires patience and understanding, which is entirely alien in comparison to how Regina was taught but she tries, they both do. Emma has achieved plenty in the past few weeks of their training and she deserves a break, a few days at least.

She leads Emma into the house, ignoring the half-hearted protests when the blonde tries to stop to remove her boots, and guides her upstairs into the bathroom connected to the master bedroom.

Normally after their lessons, she sends the blonde home, so it takes little coaxing to convince Emma to simply stand there and wait while she goes about getting a bath ready for her. It becomes a little more difficult when she insists on removing her clothes but the second she fixes Emma with a glare, she backs down and soon stands bare before her.

"In you go," she murmurs, tilting her head toward the bath and unable to help admiring the blonde's figure as she does as she's told.

Emma is gorgeous, always has been as far as Regina's concerned and she is even more so when she's relaxed, the tension she's held on to for most of the day vanishing under the combined efforts of the hot water and the lavender scented oils Regina had added to her bath.

"Hungry?" she asks, collecting the clothes from the floor and turning toward the door.

"Always," Emma replies, calm appreciation in her tone.

Regina smiles. She knows if she turns back around, she'll find Emma staring at her with something close to adoration but the tingle of her spine indicates there is something else in those eyes that she won't be able to resist.

"Good," she says, clearing her throat when the words come much lower than she intended. "I'll fix you something to eat and put these in the wash, try not to fall asleep in there."

Emma watches her leave, draping her arms along the sides of the bath and resting her cheek against her bicep. Two weeks ago and she’d have been transported to the highest point of the tallest tree for giving up as she had, which she assumes means Regina has much better control over her anger.

_Progress_ she thinks with a small smile, sighing as she closes her eyes and tries, but ultimately fails, to stay awake.


End file.
